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Alice: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Alice…

大家好，欢迎收听英语六分钟，我是爱丽丝。

Neil:And I’m Neil.

我是尼尔。

Alice: Neil, how often do you do the washing up at home?

你在家多久洗一次餐具？

Neil:Oh, you know, on special occasions – like after a Christmas lunch!

哦，你知道，只在特殊节日的时候，像圣诞节的午餐后。

Alice: That’s terrible, Neil!

那太可怕了！

Neil:Well, domestic chores are the subject of today’s show. And you know what? I’m not very good at them.

今天节目的主题是家务琐事。你知道吗？我不太擅长做家务。

Alice: Domestic means to do with the family or home and a chore is a boring job that needs doing. Not being good at chores sounds like a bad excuse for avoiding housework, Neil.

Domestic是指处理与家庭相关的事，chore是指需要做的无聊的事。尼尔，你为了回避做家务说自己不擅长做家务家务的英文，这真是个糟糕的借口。

Neil:I suppose you’re right. But I wasn’t surprised to learn that on average women spend several more hours a day doing chores at home than men. Maybe men have a higher threshold for dirt and untidiness.

也许你是对的。但不出所料的是女性平均每天做家务的时间要比男性多几个小时。也许男性对脏乱差的忍耐度比较高。

Alice: Do you have a high threshold, Neil?

你的忍耐度也很高吗？

Neil:Yes. And threshold means the point at which you begin to feel something. It takes a lot of dirt and untidiness to make me feel I need to start clearing up.

是的。Threshold是指你开始有感觉的那个临界点。家里要有很多灰尘并且非常不整洁的时候，才能让我感觉到我必须要开始打扫卫生了。

Alice: OK, so my question for you today, Neil, is: What percentage of men take responsibility for giving the house a weekly clean, according to a recent online survey by the UK organization, Mumsnet? Is it…a) 1%? b) 5%? Or c) 10%?

好的，今天要问你的问题是：根据英国妈妈网最新的在线调查，百分之多少的男性会负责每周打扫房子？a)1%？b)5%？还是c)10%？

Hmm. Those figures all sound low. But I’ll assume that not all men are like me, and say c) 10%.

这些数字听上去都很低。但我猜并不是所有的男性都像我一样，我选c)10%。

Well, we’ll see if you’re being optimistic with your answer later on in the show. So now let’s listen to a conversation between BBC reporter Geoff Byrd and his wife Sarah. In an interview to a BBC presenter they discuss Sarah’s aversion to – or strong dislike of domestic chores.

稍后我们再看你否还对你的答案持自信的态度。我们来听听BBC记者杰夫·伯德和他的妻子萨拉的对话。在访问该记者时，他们讨论了萨拉对家务琐事的强烈反感。

SB: The thing is, it’s a boring thing. You should just do the minimum amount you need to do to get by. That is my policy. I would say I definitely work harder than you do, and therefore have less time. Have we just switched round in terms of our roles?

家务真的很无聊。能少做就少做，过得去就行。这是我的原则。我可以说在工作中，我比你更辛苦，所以我的空闲时间较少。我们是不是角色互换了？

GB:Probably. Yeah. And that’s no bad thing. Go the revolution!

也许，这也不是坏事！改革万岁！

Neil:Sarah and Geoff there. In their household, Geoff does more chores because Sarah finds them boring and she also does more paid work. She thinks people should do the minimum amount of housework – or least amount needed – to get by.

上述是萨拉和杰夫的对话。在他们家，杰夫做的家务更多，因为萨拉觉得做家务很无聊，而且她的工作更辛苦。她觉得能少做点家务就少做，过得去就行。

Alice: And to get by means to achieve something with difficulty.

get by是指完成有困难的事。

Neil:So Geoff does most of the cooking and cleaning in their house– which as we discussed earlier on, isn’t usually the case for men. He doesn’t seem to mind, though, does he?

所以杰夫在家里承担了大部分的做饭和打扫的工作。就像我们之前讨论过的，这不像是男性经常做的事。他看起来并不介意，不是吗？

Alice: That’s right. He says switching roles is no bad thing – in other words, it’s a good thing!

没错。他说角色转换也不是件坏事。换句话说，就是好事！

Neil:Yeah. Go the revolution! Just don’t include me, because I’m with Sarah. I hate housework.

是的！改革万岁！不要算上我，我支持萨拉。我讨厌做家务。

Alice: OK, well let’s assume that Sarah and Geoff aren’t typical of most families, and consider the serious implications of women doing more of the household chores. Some domestic tasks can be strongly gendered – or specific to one sex. For example, doing the laundry, organizing your children’s school and social lives are often jobs that women do.

我猜萨拉和杰夫这种并不是典型的家庭模式，因为人们通常暗示女性要做更多的家务。一些家务有很强的性别倾向，也就是说专门适合某个性别的人做。例如，洗衣，送孩子上学，社交，这些大部分都是由女性来做。

Neil:But putting the rubbish out or fixing a leaky tap – those are work many people still see as men’s jobs.

但是人们通常认为倒垃圾家务的英文，修漏水的水龙头这些是男性应该做的。

Alice: Well, I put the rubbish bins out in my household, Neil. Anyway, this means women often spend significantly more time doing chores at home, juggling this with paid work.

在我家都是我倒垃圾。总之，女性经常要花费大量的时间来做家务，同时还要兼顾自己的工作。

Neil:Yes, that sounds like a lot. I can see I’m going to have to get my pinny on a bit more at home, Alice.

没错，听上去工作量很大。看来我也应该多花点时间在家里围上围裙做家务了。

Alice: I hope you do, Neil, because a bit more give and take at homecould help improve a working mum’s prospects of getting promoted at work and earning more. And for those of you unfamiliar with the word, pinny – or pinafore – means apron.

希望如此，因为男士们多分担一点家务就能帮助在职的妈妈们提高晋升和加薪的可能。也许你们不太熟悉pinny或者说pinafore这些词，它们指的是围裙。

Neil:And give and take means compromise.

give and take是指妥协。

Alice: Let’s hear now from Professor Jonathan Gershuny, co-director at the Centre for Time Use Research at Oxford University, talking about why it’s important to protect your earning capacity – or ability to earn money.

我们来听听牛津大学时间使用研究中心的主任乔纳森·乔谢力的看法，他讲述的是为什么保护好自己赚钱的能力很重要。

Nowadays, half of all marriages fail… you know…it’s not a reasonable expectation that you’re going to stay married to the same chap indefinitely. And if under these circumstances you’ve been out of the labour force looking after the kids while he builds up his earnings capacity by working long hours at work and then he runs off with his secretary, well he departs with his earnings power, and you’re left with the baby.

如今，一半的婚姻都是失败的，如果你想永远和一个人在一起，那么这个预期不太合理。如果你不工作，在家带孩子，而你的男人在外面长时间的工作，增强赚钱的能力，之后他会跟他的秘书跑掉，带着他的赚钱能力离开，而你只能和小孩一起被抛弃。

Neil:Professor Jonathan Gershuny. But actually, these days, quite a few men take care of the children while their wives or partners work full time.

上述是乔纳森·乔谢力教授的观点。但如今有很多男性照顾孩子，而女性在外做全职工作。

Alice: And she might run off with her secretary. But the main issue here is that both partners – whether male or female – should protect their earnings capacity. Now, I think it’s time for the answer to today’s quiz question, Neil. I asked you: What percentage of men take responsibility for giving the house a weekly clean, according to a recent online survey by the UK organization, Mumsnet? Is it… a) 1%, b) 5% or c) 10%?

那她也许会和她的秘书跑掉。主要问题在于双方，不管是男性还是女性，都要保护好自己的赚钱能力。我觉得是时候公布今天问题的答案了。我问你：根据英国妈妈网最新的在线调查，百分之多少的男性会负责每周打扫房子？a)1%？b)5%？还是c)10%？

Neil:I said c) 10%.

我选的是 c) 10%。

Alice: And you were wrong, I’m afraid, Neil! The answer is actually b) 5%. Mumsnet asked nearly 1, 000 working mothers about the distribution of tasks in their homes. Now, can we hear the words we learned today, please?

恐怕你回答错了。正确答案是b) 5%。妈妈网就家务的分配情况调查了近1000名在职妈妈。现在我们再复习一遍今天学到的单词吧？

Neil:Sure. They are:

好的，今天学到的单词有：

chore

琐事

threshold

极限

aversion

厌恶

minimum

最小

no bad thing

不是坏事

gendered

依照性别而分类的

pinny or pinafore

围裙

give and take

妥协

earning capacity

赚钱能力

Alice: Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English. Don’t forget to join us again soon!

今天的英语六分钟就到这里了。请记得收听我们下期的节目。

Both:Bye!

再见！

6 Minute English from the BBC.

BBC英语六分钟。